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Jefferson Starship landing at Jazziz for their 35th anniversary

2014 marks the 40th anniversary of Jefferson Starship, the second generation of San Francisco psychedelic visionaries Jefferson Airplane. As they float into Boca Raton’s Jazziz, the fact is probably a draw for old and new fans.

But for co-founder Paul Kantner, it’s just another year to do what he’s been doing most of his life.

“What does that mean to me, 40 years? Absolutely nothing,” he admits from his home in San Francisco. “We continue on with our celebration of life. We’ve got a stellar band and right now it’s just thrilling. There’s so much passion and joy, the ultimate circus. We do 60-80 jobs a year, 60-80 shows.”

He laughs.

“Well, it oughta be a job. When I go to work, I play. That’s how I want to keep it. That’s much more fun.”

The roots of the Starship are, obviously, with the Airplane, which debuted in 1965 with Kantner, Marty Ballin and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen (singer Grace Slick joined later). They had hits like “White Rabbit” and “Somebody To Love,” but dissolved, to be reformed in 1974 with Kantner, Ballin and Slick as Jefferson Starship with songs like “Miracles” and “With Your Love.” While the band eventually further evolved into the poppier Starship by the ’80s, the current band connects with the original psychedelic energy of its predecessors.

“The element of the music is such a metaphysical creature, this combination fo sounds and idea that goes into other people’s heads,” Kantner says. “There’s an untold reaction to it, from myself included. I honestly have no idea what I’m doing most of the time.”

He credits some of the band’s energy and eccentricities to the city of its birth, and as the only San Fran native of the original lineup, he says he gets it.

“San Francisco is 40 square miles surrounded entirely by reality,” Kantner says. “We get away with things being on the West Coast, the edge of western civilization.”

And even though the counterculture that spawned the original band is long gone, there are new rebels and new communities open to alternative truths. And Kantner says he sees those people each night in the audience.

“There are old, gray-haired people, and some little girls as young as 14 or so. One came up to me after a recent show and said ‘Oh, my God, that’s the best rock and roll show I’ve ever seen.’ I hesitated to ask her how many rock and roll shows she had been to, but I took it for what it was worth.”